Sunday, February 27, 2011

Seems everyone I know who is actually doing something has haters. You know what a hater is, right? Someone who's got nothing better to do than threaten, harass, stalk, impersonate or do anything & everything to bring someone else down.

Here's what haters aren't:

A) Ambitious/Hardworking. People who are ambitious are too busy doing things for themselves to try sabotaging others.

C) Somebody. You won't stay a somebody very long by threatening others or sabotaging them because you'll never have time to focus on your own career and your own work.

D) Smart. Haters don't think about how they just make the object of the hatred more important & noticeable. If someone has haters, it means people have some reaction to them instead of total indifference.

I know people who have vocal & downright pathetic haters. Any recent haters I have would be saddened to know that they're not the first and certainly not the brightest people to hate me. I'm sure they won't be the last, either.

They should also be praying harder than anyone for my success. After all, idle time on my hands means I have time to hunt down saboteurs like wild animals & come up with some truly vicious psychological torture that will make them cry for the sweet release of death. Ever think of that??? Or that you might just move up to the tip-top of the list?

Haters who think they can silence me are sadly mistaken. In fact, it's been my goal in life to exist just to piss off anyone who'd dare to stop me from doing anything. No one will take my voice & I'll die free before I live a coward.

So I have to agree w/the wisdom that says "If you have haters, you must be doing something right."

Haters also seem to take out their hatred of life & personal situation onto others instead of working to make life better for themselves. You're also pretty pathetic if you go around hating people who aren't even mega-famous or millionaires. At least one could have some sympathy for those haters instead of thinking you're too sad and miserable to go get laid, find a nice job or do something more productive. I know there are much better things to do in life than hate the author of this blog, who's neither famous nor rich. You'd have to be insane to want to live my life from birth to the present.

And I know there are better things to do than create hate websites dedicated to people who don't even live in the same country as you.

At least haters give those of us who have them badges of honor & proof we're doing something right. So there.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

So, I saw this alteration to a "Jesus Saves" graffiti in the subway that tempted me to write my own response:

In seeing this, I was sorely tempted to write something like "Think you've got that reversed." After all, men tend to be vilified much more in our society. They can't teach small children or even look at them without people accusing them of being pedophiles. If they end up in a situation with an unwanted child or paternity disputes, people almost always side with the woman & brand the guy a deadbeat dad. How many falsely reported domestic abuse or sexual harassment cases go against men vs. women?

I'm also a feminist & figured this guy was inviting wrath from the hard core, man-hating feminists, of which I'm not. I certainly don't hate all men considering I only dated guys, married one + have guy friends, acquaintances & business contacts.

Then, I felt it showed precisely why Calvinism failed. I'm not a religious scholar or expert but the basic view of Calvinism is as follows:

You get assigned a status before birth: saved or damned. You don't know what your status is & you can't change it with your good or bad deeds. Only when you're dead will you know if you're going to Heaven or if you're doomed to a lifetime of eternal Hell.

Now I could be missing things there; remember, I'm not a religious expert & certainly no expert in Calvinism. But...

if indeed Jesus only saved men, women are now being given carte blanche to do whatever they want to. I could go cheat on my husband w/my hot law school friend who actually asked if I'd consider being with him if my husband left me. Yes, my husband hates that guy though I see a lot of myself in him & I feel like he's one of the few people who'd be around me for myself instead of my career or its perks. I also question his sincerity in any feeling for me since I don't know whether he says such things to all women, most women or just me.

If I were going to be damned anyway, what's to stop me? If all men could do anything they wanted, good or bad, and STILL be saved while I could be perfect & go to Hell, why wouldn't women just be complete jerks to all men?

So, law school friend (you know who you are) if I actually believed that was the world order, I'd indulge you. I'd also do plenty of other despicable things to men & people in general.

Essentially, this is why Calvinism doesn't work: Most sane people at hearing that basic premise say "Hey, if my earthly deeds don't matter I may as well live it up while I'm alive. To heck with society's rules. Let's ALL do bad stuff!" Certainly everyone I was in classes with (mostly "smart kids")when learning about this expressed that exact viewpoint & said they'd view it that way.

Can you imagine what that world would be like? If you thought it was hard & tough now, that would make it a thousand times worse. Face it, chaos would ensue & it would end up being every person for themselves. It essentially absolves people of all guilt or fear of spiritual repercussions for doing anything. We'd probably have more vigilantism as well, don't you think?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Aaaah! Tons of links & so little time to write on things. I have to delete some of them since I just got my computer back from the repair place about a week ago & it messed up right after Christmas during the massive blizzard.

So first off, I have to rant about some terrible treatment at the Chick-Fil-A in Paramus, NJ. Now I have to go to this Chick-Fil-A since there are NONE in NYC. Politics notwithstanding*, the food is very good & in all my years of going I had never had terrible service there.

Until last week....

As a tradition, my mother gets us the Chick-Fil-A calendar every year for Christmas. Even though it's a huge pain in the ass to get to Paramus from my home for a full service Chick-Fil-A, the cow centerfolds are creative & amusing. One year, they had cows in reality shows. There was also one with cows in literary classics & as superheroes. Good stuff, really.

Every month, there's a coupon for some food offer. I took mine to this particular Chick-Fil-A only to have the cashier try to rip me off & deny me the full value of the coupon. I spoke up because I'm a loud mouth who doesn't like being cheated. After some fighting, I got an alternate item since they didn't have the item on the coupon that I would have liked to try.

I contacted Chick-Fil-A's main headquarters as well as the store operator, Ken Walsh. I left a message with someone there. I also got a nice message from Chick-Fil-A's headquarters a few days back saying they'd contacted this guy as well about my gripes (I also mentioned the poor mixing of ice cream products, as I had a milkshake there that tasted awful but the same one in NC was much better).

But do you think this man has contacted me? NO!!!!! It really makes me not want to go to that location again & more pissed off that there isn't a Chick-Fil-A in NYC or even Long Island. A secret unofficial location at NYU doesn't cut it; they're not even open year round & when I wanted to go on my birthday, that one was closed for NYU's winter break.

* Rest assured that if I ever owned a Chick-Fil-A franchise, I'd be doing everything possible to support the gay community & flouting any anti-gay rhetoric since I happen to believe in not sticking your nose into other people's relationships/lifestyle choices where they are not personally harming you & yours. I'm not going to boycott since if I went around boycotting every single company that did something I'm morally opposed to, I'd have to become homeless or live in the wilderness with no technology or modern conveniences of any kind.

Next up, this story. Believe me, I'm just as shocked as you that some "women's issue" article actually has grains of truth in it.

Now, this kind of bothers me. I hate, HATE the "role model" argument. That argument is what I call an abdication of parental duties & responsibility.

If your child starts admiring a baseball player who chews tobacco, how about you get off your fat butt & show your child the results of doing that?? You can get oral cancer & some pretty nasty stuff in and around your mouth. I've heard enough stories about chewing tobacco to want to stay as far away as possible from anyone who does it. I'm sure someone's got some gross images on the Internet or a doctor could scare your child enough not to start doing it.

Furthermore, I'm of the belief that we don't need to run around protecting adults from their own harmful choices. I say let the drug addicts take all the drugs they want & let smokers smoke as many cigarettes as they want to in their own space without endangering or harming other people (let the proper people make this happen like taking children away from drug addicts).

That is Darwinism at work, meaning fewer people to drain resources, live in houses, commit crime, be horrible parents, whatever. If someone I don't know wants to get high badly enough, why should I try & stop them? If they don't care about their own life any more than that, then why should anyone else care? Face it, people do have free will & if someone wants to harm themselves badly enough while refusing to get any kind of help or listening to reason, let them. They'll either hit rock bottom & seek help or die.

Now this I never understood. Airlines won't let you get on a plane if you're intoxicated but they'll serve alcohol in terminals. Yeah...is this so the public will be more docile when it's time for the public groping to get onto the plane???

And as someone who studied Psychology in college, I have some words about this article.

First off, one of my Psych professors said it's very hard to determine who is actually crazy & who's just faking it. Apparently there was a study done where people pretended to be insane enough to be committed to a mental hospital & the staff there couldn't tell the difference between actual patients and the actors.

So if mental health professionals can't tell the difference between the actual crazies & the pretend crazies, doesn't this just impede on one's civil rights to get guns if they are not actually crazy? If it's just a big guessing game, then shouldn't we come up with something better like a more sane gun control policy that maximizes the number of law abiding citizens who can get guns while minimizing the chance that actual crazies & criminals can get them?

Speaking of going overboard, this does it, don't you think? What makes it worse is that it happened in NYC. I think suspension is extreme. If a student brings in a weapon, do they use it on him/her?

Plus, the whole punishment of suspension is just stupid. Most kids WANT to be out of school, especially if they're always getting into trouble. You're just giving them free time to cause trouble elsewhere. Perhaps business owners & others annoyed by suspended kids should get to sue the school districts for damages or other business losses due to those kids not being in school like they should be.

You want to punish a kid? Tie them up & make them watch something they'd hate. Or make them listen to horrible music. Perhaps a rehearsal for someone who can't sing or a band that can't play. THAT'S punishment!! Not this free range, party time crap. If you can't spank, at least use your brain & be creative in punishing someone.

Now, on this union issue I'm divided. People who keep up with current events have heard about this one. Here's my take.

I'm not really pro or anti-union. The reason is I'd rather have something in between or at least a union that doesn't encourage sloth or inefficiency. My husband is in a union job & isn't a union supporter. First off, his is essentially neutered. They can't even strike to protest unfairness, which I consider a hallmark of having a union to start with.

Second, I think terrible workers should be tossed out with no excuses. They shouldn't get 30 years in a job & get to stay employed in layoffs while less senior but more competent people are let go to starve to death. There's no incentive to work hard, improve conditions or put in any real effort. If an entire library staff & local community members are calling for someone's head, that person should not get to keep his/her job or remain in management while others who work harder & are better workers are tossed out like garbage.

I don't have a problem with entertainment unions because the bad people get filtered out by way of actor conduct. SAG or AFTRA wouldn't tell filmmakers or companies to keep some specific actor who's causing problems or disrupting a set while getting rid of someone who's been in the union for less time & is a perfect angel. I've never heard of either of these unions doing that stuff.

For that matter, I don't know of any entertainment union of any type that has seniority rules for productions. Actors have incentives to not be jerks while also being assured of proper treatment like breaks, meals, etc.

If you could figure out how to create a union that holds its members accountable or at least doesn't provide a safe harbor to total incompetents at the expense of hard working people with less seniority, then I'd be far more supportive of the concept. However, I can't help but call Tea Party folk supporting the removal of collective bargaining for unions in WI hypocrites since I'm sure THEY benefited from the things unions brought into the work force.

Furthermore, unions do keep out illegal immigrants. You know these government officials would turn a blind eye to that kind of thing if you didn't have the unions around. Didn't the Tea Party oppose illegal immigration or do they want to drag down the minimum wage for everyone & become homeless themselves?

Oh, and what a shocker! You know it's because of those old white male Senators, right? If the houses of Congress were mostly women, I bet that would change in a heartbeat along with issues of birth control and perhaps abortion. And gee, what else is the US behind on??? I'm sure there's lots of examples of how America's proclamations are total BS now; feel free to share if there's something Michael Moore didn't mention in one of his films.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

I'm what my sister calls an "80s child." I was a young kid in the 80's but I wished I was older since my experiences were extremely banal. I have fond memories of many 80's cartoons, including Jem, Thundercats & more popular fare but also the extremely weird and obscure like Moondreamers, Lady Lovelylocks, Noozles, Pole Position, etc. I also happen to think music, movies, pop culture as a whole was a lot better in the 80s than it is today, particularly when it comes to issues of political correctness. Case in point: who'd have whined about movie characters smoking in the 80s???

Now, there's a lot to be said for today's increased racial diversity (though we're still a long way from an even playing field) but I think many things from the 80s with respect to pop culture were better then than they are today. You also can't truly bring back the 80s as long as prices are what they are & stupid reality shows that aren't "reality" at all are ruining the air waves (basically, any show where someone's using it to become famous or that features a contest fits that category as opposed to shows where you simply follow a normal person being normal who isn't trying to get rich).

There's lots of shows today that reference the 80s for humor, including Family Guy & Robot Chicken. Both shows have done some extremely funny things & pokes on 80s stuff. I also love the Family Guy FCC song (and if you haven't heard it, go find it NOW since even lawyers will get a kick out of it).

Here's my beef, though: why the fuck don't we have nearly the recognition & skewering of girls cartoons from the 80s??? You'll see references to obscure boy stuff like G.I. Joe & other stuff I considered boring as a girl watching 80s cartoons (and little reference to Pole Position, you jackasses!). Just referencing Jem doesn't cut it!!

Yeah, Jem was one of my favorites growing up & if it came out on DVD again at a fair price, I'd want it. After all, that show had some of the only childfree content you're going to see on TV. They weren't having babies or taking care of them: they took care of older foster girls. I recall one episode where a character was considering getting married & the other band mates told her not to rush into things. They weren't a bunch of marriage cheerleaders like many women in shows, animated or not. In fact, watching Jem probably inspired me & lots of young girls to want to be famous singers/musicians.

Despite all that, I'd have a lot more respect for some of these shows if they put in some of the obscure girl cartoons like Moondreamers or Maxie or even Lady Lovelylocks. There have to be some women contributors who can get that in there.

Until you have it, I'm going to get irked & peeved with the excess satire of G.I. Joe. Plenty of girls cartoons could use some nostalgic skewering; am I going to have to do it or will someone else take this banner? For the love of God, someone take that banner!

I'd also have more respect for the people at Robot Chicken & Family Guy if they did add more truly obscure references. I, as a twisted person with a long memory, have got a LOT of ideas.

By the way, who's still scared that Hey Vern, It's Ernest got a DVD release recently??

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thanks to my husband & Chelsea Handler for mentioning this one on Chelsea Lately. I swear, I'd watch Chelsea Lately more often if I could stand the guests. Chelsea Handler's hilarious & says the same things about red haired guys that I've been saying for years. She's just fortunate that no one would ever accuse her of fucking her brother if she dated a red haired guy.

Yes, I don't find red haired guys attractive for the most part. I've met maybe one in my entire life that I thought was cute. I think I may have seen another attractive one in a headshot when I interned at a talent agency but that's about it. As I told that agent, you can't ask me about red haired guys since everyone thinks redheads are related to one another (usually that a guy is my brother). Me dating a red haired guy would lead to accusations that I'm committing incest.

Those minorities complaining about their status: be thankful no one thinks all black people, Asian people, etc. are related to one another. You'd have to date outside your race if that were the norm like it is with natural redheads.

Needless to say, none of my exes are redheads in the true sense of hair color.

You claim "red" hair is NOT a natural hair color b/c it's "inappropriate." Well retards, my hair is NATURAL.

As in, it grows out from my head & elsewhere that color.

And my hair's not some near blond or brown color; it's bright freaking red, no question!!

Are you claiming that both me & my sister (who also had bright red hair at 12 years old) would have been forced to dye our hair to meet YOUR standards? Big, catastrophic problems with that one:

1. My mother forbade us from dyeing our hair until we were 18. She was furious when my sister highlighted her hair with blond highlights. She herself is also a natural redhead.

2. You have to go to a hair salon if you want to properly dye red hair. A box of hair dye & DIY doesn't cut it with naturally red hair. That makes your hair an even more unnatural color like orange or maroon.

3. If you even get to a hair salon, no decent hair stylist is touching the red hair. Do you simpletons know how many people compliment my hair color on a regular basis?

This goes double for people who work on hair for a living. If I go to get a trim or do anything with my hair, I get raves on how pretty it is from at least the person working on it & on occasion from the entire salon. How do you think these same people would react if I wanted to dye it?

They'd consider it a crime against nature; I think most professionals would outright refuse to dye my hair because of the rarity of the color & the fact that it would never look the same if I dyed it even once.

4. Do you retards plan to protect me from attempts on my life when I get killed for altering my hair color to meet your standards? Remember, people have told me they'd kill me if I dyed my hair.

5. How about the permanent change to my life & identity after I've had to dye it to meet YOUR standards? Are you going to pay for that one?

So sounds like this elementary school is discriminating against natural redheads, a very significant minority that should be as much a protected class as anyone else. Ask the people who were accosted by morons too easily influenced by the antics of Eric Cartman.

I'm tempted to write the person responsible for that little policy & mention these very issues.

I was a redhead attending elementary school & gee, class functioned. My classmates did their work & it wasn't just a never ending gaze fest at my head. Viewing my hair is not the equivalent of taking an acid trip.

So I call bullshit on the "distraction" argument. Come up with something that doesn't reek of discrimination against redheads; I dare you.

Do you plan to ban very black people next, demanding them to bleach their skin so their skin shade fits within the acceptable hue? Perhaps Asians with more slanted eyes will be forced to undergo surgery so they look more "American" to these morons?

Get a grip & hope you get slammed by some local natural redheads. You deserve it.

I am starting a museum and need some trademark advice. if someone donate some help that would rock

thanks

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
* Compensation: no pay

PostingID: 2216427887

You know I had to respond, right? Here's what I wrote:

This sounds an awful lot like an attempt to get free legal services. Guess what??? Lawyers cost MONEY & with good reason. Do YOU have to maintain licensing standards & pay dues to keep doing YOUR job?

If you want a freebie, I suggest looking this stuff up yourself or asking a friend instead of expecting random lawyers who see these ads to give a damn about you or your attempt to create a museum. We attorneys have our own problems & the last thing we care about is satisfying some lazy jerk with an entitlement complex.

If YOU wouldn't want to work for free, then don't ask others to do so.

That last sentence is a true life lesson: if you personally wouldn't do something for free, then don't ask someone else to give you a freebie. Especially a total stranger.

There are reasons why they don't have legal aid organizations for free legal advice in certain areas. Generally, lawyers aren't the most altruistic people. I include myself in that as well. We feel, for instance, that if you have enough money to have an estate then you have enough money to pay a lawyer to do a proper will & set up trust instruments.

Guess what? You do NOT need a free will if you have an estate that won't be swallowed up by debt when you die.

If I like you, I'll do a lot for you. But if I don't know you, I have no motivation to give you a freebie. Why don't I just demand YOU for one? I'd really like free computer help, an actor to work for free as my servant/admirer/significant other/security guard, etc. I'm sure I could offend you by asking for freebies & you didn't even have to maintain state licensing, incur six figure loan debt or abide by ethical rules to start & continue working in your trade.

Oh, and apparently many of the morons who post insulting ads on Craig's List delete their ads before I can give them the old tongue lashing or find my response absolutely hilarious. Someone needs to get some legal counsel badly with some of the ads I've seen or maybe some of these people realized "Hey, we can't get a college student to intern for us 40 hours a week!" I literally saw an ad for that today, no joke.

Attention unemployed lawyers: if you live in NYC, LA or someplace that has jobs in this section, go to the Craig's List creative/talent gigs sections as well as anything related to the entertainment industry. Once you see ads that show evidence of labor law violations (such as asking for photographs as a pre-condition to interviewing or having interns do things that are benefiting the business & not offering reimbursement for travel costs, using their own laptop, etc.), point it out to these folks & then mention you're a lawyer. You've just pointed out a serious problem they've got & how your services can remedy that.

If they are not grasping a clue (no one with any kind of in-house lawyer would ever post some of the ads I've seen in these sections), point out that they will eventually crash & burn with the obvious lack of legal counsel + the fact that any decent attorney costs a LOT of money.

You've got to be smart & think outside the box if you want to get anywhere in the legal field, or life for that matter. This is called "making your own future while having a little fun & performing a public service." Pointing out idiocy is an obligation we all have & I take that duty seriously as a professional attorney + all around loudmouth. Plus, if you can then why not?

Personally, I side with this teacher. Since when did teaching become working for the CIA? She didn't name names or call out individual lazy students. And guess what? This woman works with high school students, so likely she knows what she's talking about.

My sister told me of one incident that happened at my nephew's school that she felt the teacher had no business having to apologize for. She even told the teacher as much & I was proud of her for not being another stereotypical self-indulgent, lazy, whiny parent who blames everyone but themselves for little Johnny's violent behavior or little Julie's materialism & whorish clothing.

The pathetic behavior of many breeders is a big reason I'm not the least bit motivated to have children. Good parents seem too few and far between but I'm happy to know quite a few who don't blame the media & teachers for everything wrong with their children. They know about something called PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

My husband could also tell you about some teenagers who are lazy & unmotivated. He tries to instill some common sense & not be a total jerk to them. He's managed to find some who give me hope for the future of this country.

If you ask me, teachers should be blogging about their experiences & could end up improving the education system where big money interests, school boards & people who've never spent time in a classroom have failed miserably. The 1st Amendment ramifications are also huge here since that will affect how future teachers get to do things. Me personally, if you wanted to further discourage me from being a teacher, stifling my 1st Amendment right to vent is certainly a way to do it. Bravo to this woman for speaking her mind & piss off clueless school district most likely staffed by overpaid administrators who continue to make the work of teachers even harder than it is already.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Yes, believe it or not The Angry Redheaded Lawyer would love to have a job where an evening gown was required. Note I DIDN'T say evening shoes. I said evening gown.

That's because you can't do very much in an evening gown. You can't lift heavy items, get messy, or do things that will make you sweaty. You'd mess up that evening gown. You also can't walk around messy areas or floors or you mess up the bottom of one.

Unlike some women, I love (and I mean LOVE) dressing up. I don't think this is just because of my embracing the spotlight or liking to be the center of attention (though this tends to happen even if I don't want it to--I do look as I do, you know); I just have that girly side, even though you might think I didn't because I'm a feminist. Contrary to that, I think you can look pretty and sexy without looking like a whore.

Give me carte blanche on gown style, length, color and accessories & I'll come up with a look that will flatter me and not look like just like everyone else. If anything, I'm more of a trend setter since I think it's lazy to just look like everybody else. A brand name does not make one fashionable or stylish in my book. You have to have an eye, that sense of creativity. I think being fashionable means you don't wear the same thing as 10 other people.

Anyway, I have literally 10 evening gowns. No kidding. Some of them are now big on me since I've lost weight over the years (which is saying something since I was always skinny) but I'm upset because I never get to wear them. My husband would like for me to dress up to go places but if you're not taking me to places where a dressy outfit works, then I just feel overdressed. Who wants that?

I have all these dresses for a few reasons:

A) Most of them still fit me.
B) None of them are falling apart.
C) I either didn't pay for them or got them very cheap. I have this white dress dubbed my "Cinderella gown" that I paid $40 for.
D) They're in a variety of colors.
E) I had to get them for pageants or proms. They also came in handy for sorority formals.
F) I can't replace them for cheap since most of them are long, which was the style back when I was in high school. My mom wouldn't have let me get away w/some of the prom dresses I saw years later since they looked a little slutty & less classy to me.

I miss having occasions to wear them. That is, occasions that wouldn't cost me a ton of money to participate in. I don't have hundreds of dollars to go places where evening gowns are the norm. Plus, getting my husband to dress up is like pulling teeth. He's not the dress up type. In fact, it seems a lot of people he knows aren't the dress up type. I can't even find a decent club to go to with him so I can wear my club wear so imagine how hard this is to find.

Seriously, if you can find me a venue for these outfits that doesn't require me to spend money I don't have (even bar association black tie events are over $80 per ticket) you will be a great friend. I just have to find a way to carry comfortable shoes before I get to a dressy event if I'm traveling via subway. Heels and public transit do not mix on my feet.

Case in point: I was in my new black high heels and got blisters on the fronts of my toes that are STILL killing me. I thought I'd finally gotten an opportunity to wear an evening dress to something without having to pay ridiculous money. I even got my husband to dress up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't told the venue was in a smoking area & there was no smoke free space. That didn't work well for my husband so I had to leave. Eventually, that would have hit me as well considering I remember going to karaoke years back at this NC bar before the indoor smoking ban (yes, they do have these in NC). Talk about a smoker's paradise; you'd get all the second hand smoke you wanted & then some in that place.

I've even signed up for extra work when evening gowns were required if it was interior shots, ideally required someone to be attractive & I was available. Sadly, the closest I came to such an extra gig was the one on "Gossip Girl" & that's my newest formal dress. I got that dress b/c I thought it looked like an '80s prom dress & was looking for one for ages.

There's something about wearing an evening gown that just appeals to me. I'd probably make a good bridesmaid for hire since I'm used to being looked at and tend to look good in formal dress. I also carry it off well if you believe the people who give me compliments when I dress that way.

So I'll volunteer to go to black tie events if I don't have to pay for it & can bring my shoes with me so I don't get blisters from city walking. For industry events that are black tie, I'm in.

Friday, February 11, 2011

On Wednesday, I happened to be at home when Central Casting called to ask if I'd be interested in doing extra work on Blue Bloods. It was another exterior gig & remembering the Law & Order experience in December, I feared another intensely cold situation. However, hearing that the crew was good & that I'd be one of 7 non-union people along with the fact that once this new job starts, I won't be able to do extra work anymore, I decided to go ahead & take it.

The location was actually in an area I know well that only required one subway to get to. It was right near the water & remembering last time, I went to Telco while going to get my sick husband's comics to buy some thermals. I now have 2 pairs of them. Thermals aren't so common in the South. To be honest, cool winter clothing or things nearly as warm as you find in the Northeast were a lot harder to find down there in my shopping experience.

Anyway, I got to the shoot & again, the only person looking anything like me. We were in a nice warm, second floor of a lounge right near the water. Lovely view, lovely seating. A Thai restaurant but based on all that, I'd consider going there for a meal or seeking that venue for an event.

Oh, and I ran into an actress I didn't mind running into & didn't see anyone from that infamous BMG fiasco though I was glad to see those people were doing all right and not angry at me or the industry as a whole.

There were about 30 something people there so more opportunities to speak to folk.

What did I learn here?

1. There are some interesting people doing extra work. I heard some interesting stories from this one actress I was sitting near. At first, she gave me a bad impression by asking one of the crew members if they were putting union & non-union together. I thought perhaps she was one of those "I'm better than you b/c I'm in the union" types.

However, as I spoke to her later on, she turned out to be interesting. While I don't necessarily approve of stuff I saw her do (she was quite concerned about getting lunch & may have irked the crew a bit with that + tried to get an alcoholic drink from a restaurant employee at one point), she was nice enough. I didn't encounter rudeness from anyone & had a lovely chat with some extras who were also from the South. We spoke of the Southernisms & I told them about the Chick-Fil-A at NYU along with the one in Paramus.

I still think actors are, as a whole, whiny but there was a different vibe on this set.

2. You can learn things from extras. The actress I was sitting with also told me about some bad experiences & the phenomenon known as the "walk away lunch." Apparently, on some sets there will not be a catered lunch for background but they'll be told to go off for an hour/30 minutes to buy their own food with no reimbursement. In the old days, there'd apparently been reimbursement but if you encounter that today, there apparently isn't.

She was quite concerned that our set was going to have that. I said "Things you tell me BEFORE I show up" since I had no money, no credit card, nothing on me if that had happened. I also hate being forced to spend money so if you informed me, I'd likely bring my own food. I actually brought some for myself anyway due to my sore throat/oncoming cold symptoms.

3. An old lesson that never dies: treat everyone with respect. At least, don't be a dick. That actress also told me of an experience where non-union people were directly abused by crew people when it was time for meals, where the union people got hot food & the non-unions didn't. She told me that she felt bad for one non-union person & told the girl to take her card so she to could have a hot lunch.

She also told me of a set she'd been on where there was no water & an older lady seeking it was told to go to the restroom to get it.

A tip: do that if I'm on a set & I will find out who was responsible for that. God help you if it was you. The PA who's nasty to me will live to regret it.

It goes back to that whole "don't take your hatred of your job out on your customers." I know people who were & are PAs; I respect them for going out in the cold, working all the hours & having to be the set bitch. I also respect the crew people who have to work hard in the cold for many hours. These people should have unions.

At the same time, be an ass to me & I promise you I will share that experience as well as your name with others.

4. The Central Casting rep I spoke to was right; the crew was good. I found the assistant coordinator who came in a jovial guy & wonder if he figured out I didn't drink. They even got us toe and hand warmers. That would have been so nice back in December when I was in the cold. That crew was even nice enough to tell me where craft services was when I was trying to figure out where to go.

I also saw a congenial atmosphere among the PAs, which is a very good thing in my view.

5. Getting paid to sit in the warmth isn't bad. I was never called to the set but it's probably better I didn't have to be in the cold. The day was much shorter than the others I've worked have been and as long as I get paid anyway, no complaints here. Lots of extras I met had the same philosophy; better to get paid to sit there than sit at home for free.

6. The time you spend in holding can be quite useful. I finally got a contact with the SAG New Media department, wrote something that had been sitting in my head & needed to come out + started writing an acting piece for City Bar that would appeal to attorneys & entertainment people.

7. Finally, in case I'd not mentioned it, doing extra work is a good way to figure out what clothing you should keep and what you should part with. Seems I need to get my dark green business suit altered ASAP if you can alter a size 6 pantsuit to fit a woman who's a 4 or maybe even a 2. Just need a good alterations person who is in a safe neighborhood (the closer to me, the better) & won't charge more than my husband paid for the suit years back. The person should also know enough English to make me feel confident the suit will come back in one piece & fit properly.

Doing the Gossip Girl gig also led to me tossing out some shoes that had seen better days. Face it, if something's too messed up to bring to a set, it's time to trash it.

So, why is karma a bitch??? Remember Lesson #3.

This idiot on Craig's List posts a whiny ad in the creative gigs section about 2 weeks ago because no one wanted to take his "picture" that he intended to use as a headshot for free. He seemed clueless on why people were flagging the ad & claimed he'd flag 20 more if this one he'd posted was flagged so I wrote this in response:

Maybe your ad got flagged b/c photographers don't care to indulge some wannabe actor who doesn't care enough about their career to pay for a quality product? How do YOU like working for FREE in the acting arena? Doesn't it piss you off? If the income's not an issue, then you've got no reason to cheap out on professional photos.

Wanna flag ads so badly, how about flagging the ads from spammers, scam artists, illegal internships & jobs having nothing to do with one's looks demanding pictures as a pre-condition to employment? How about flagging the adult film, web cam & stripper stuff while you're at it? None of those belong in the talent or creative gigs section.

Fair questions, right? Would any of you actors like me to have you work for free to do things like make people jealous, drive my parents insane, etc.? Your trade has a value, does it not? Knowing you as an actor doesn't mean you're some free service available at my beck & call.

So, "Donte Kinsey" apparently doesn't want to work in this business. Here's what this simpleton does:

This is just a taste. You will lose! I have nothing to hide unlike you. But then again I don't fuck with peoples ads you fucking loser. Go away asshole.

RESPONSE #4:

Look what I can do in five minutes. Imagine what will happen when I spend an hour on you.

2. Adds this account to porno sites & things I didn't sign up for. Little does (s)he know that it's a spam account & I never handle anything I can't block e-mail for.

Wonder what Mr./Ms. Donte Kinsey will think when I report his/her little threatening butt to Yahoo. You better believe I will & now (s)he probably won't expect it since this exchange happened weeks ago & I didn't read it until today. I take my sweet time reading responses from mental midgets. People with grammar that atrocious & who react like that are clearly not the sort who should be in this or any field.

If any of you in the entertainment industry want to take preemptive measures so you spare yourselves some time & heartache, his email is: dontekinsey@yahoo.com

For all this idiot knows, I'm a raging lunatic who's now tracked down his/her house and will blow his/her head off the next time his foot hits pavement. (S)he'd also better pray I do damn well & don't have to resort to crime in order to find a reason to live. If I really wanted to, I think most people would put their money on me winning that conflict regardless of size or anything else. Aside from pissing off others who'd kill this mental midget in a moment for messing w/me, I'm like a poisonous flower or a rose; I may be nice to look at but I have sharp thorns & vicious toxins if you mess w/me.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

There are people who could use a refresher course in that. Here are a few.

First off, I get this message today from someone through my website which was witty but appeared to violate Rule #1 of trying to get on my good side: No Unsolicited Material.

If you go to any website or profile associated with me, you'll find that everything with a space for it says not to ask for favors, send unsolicited material & the like. That includes asking me to send your materials to someone.

Since I wasn't 100% sure if this person was seeking an attorney manager or just an attorney to send submissions to people who were already interested in seeing the work, I decided to ask for clarification.

Recently, I got an offer for free Google Adwords access & decided to advertise my services as an entertainment lawyer, among other talents. If it leads to paying clients, that's fine but I don't work for free in this field.

The page the ads are linking to has as the very first thing you see a statement about this very issue & how I don't wish to be treated as a tool for you to get famous.

In short, sending unsolicited material to someone who says not to is the fastest way to torpedo your shot at an entertainment career. That has to be one of our biggest pet peeves.

I heard of people trying to tell me to "be nice" in my job at that scam TV network (you can read more about that in an earlier post). Know what my response was? Essentially, fuck off & go to Friendly's if you want friends.

In this case, maybe this woman & her daughter should stop doing stupid shit & presenting themselves in a bad light if they don't want TV shows like Glee to make fun of them. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. I'd be happy never to hear about the Lohan family again & don't keep up with it b/c their antics are that inconsequential to me. Live with your choices & stop annoying the populace because you're butt hurt about some story or event.

Finally, I saw this & think I should probably come up with such a list myself. However, I never actually did a truly hated job since I never tolerated BS. Perhaps I can relay experiences of those I know who had truly terrible jobs & why I'd never do them.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Okay, seems I did make it onto tonight's episode of Gossip Girl. Didn't watch it & didn't tape it (to the shock of my mother). But as predicted, my sister called me to tell me where I was. It was the scene where I & a few other extras were personally directed by Andrew McCarthy. My dress also apparently looked black on TV b/c my sister claimed I was wearing a black dress.

It's NOT black: it looks dark but it's actually sparkly & more purple/red/blue. Apparently, I was facing right at the camera & since I was the only redhead there I'm definitely noticeable.

This prompted more from my family than the things that really do count in the industry like my being a lawyer or working with a film company that got distribution for some of its films.

God, I'm really hoping no one contacts me out of the blue about it. I know finding natural redheads is very difficult & if I ever star in anything, finding me a stand-in will be a total bitch. You can't even dye your hair my shade of red.

Really don't want the surrender of my private figure rights, either. If you become a public figure, it means you have fewer rights when it comes to negative statements made about you in public forums. It's much harder to sue people for it & win if you're a public figure or public official. I may lose those private figure rights anyway because of my behind the scenes career but being a big time performer of any stripe would definitely cause me to lose them & in an instant.

Let's face it, I've had flack without being famous. One of my guy friends also said something interesting to me on Friday: he claimed that I don't have to flirt b/c guys are simply attracted to me "like a moth to a flame." I'd need not just one but a team of bodyguards if I were famous. Did get that shirt I felt was perfect if you want to avoid the paparazzi or just piss them off for fun. Any aggrieved actors I meet who I like will find out how they can get such a shirt for themselves.

Once more, don't you dare call me a "TV star!" Seems I have to say this more to family & people outside the business, though I bet they won't watch other projects where I'll be speaking & doing much more. Call me a TV star when I start getting stopped on the street for TV work & not just b/c some people think I'm pretty.

I'm hoping this will create new regulations for non-union jobs as well. Thank you, protected speech. Getting butt hurt b/c you didn't like what an employee said about you on Facebook & then firing them is immature and asinine.

Hardly the same thing as sharing trade secrets or confidential information under a non-disclosure agreement concerning a business transaction. Have the balls to talk to the person in real life about their comments; for all we know, there could be something illegal or shady going on that the law, top brass & others can't help you with or are simply ignoring.

Social media has an important use as a leveler against corruption. I have no sympathy for companies that get called to the carpet for cheating investors, lying to the public on safety matters, willfully ignoring potential lawsuits, etc. if they are guilty. You can't sue if you are guilty of this stuff since truth is a defense to defamation, as I remind the corporate cheerleaders who are more than happy to throw someone under the bus for not being a shiny happy face about their job when they go home. Those sheeple need to be exiled & dropped off in some dictatorship & those who want to live in a free country should be brought back in their place.

Female author and screenwriter looking for attractive personal assistant to help with scheduling, phones, and accompanying me to signings and interviews. Hours are flexible. Pay is $20/ hour.

* Location: Manhattan
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
* Compensation: $20/hour

PostingID: 2198683582

In case you aren't aware, here's why you don't post ads like this if you want business people to take you seriously:

1. Being good at that job has NOTHING to do with one's looks. This is not modeling or acting work; this is running errands, organizing things, being a gatekeeper, etc.

2. If you wanted to sue this person for gender discrimination in hiring, here's your proof. There are also laws against hiring people based on looks like having a weight requirement; just ask people hiring flight attendants & Hooters girls. Stories about lawsuits in those industries on this very issue are well known.

3. The taint of such postings leads me to think someone's going to become a sexual harassment victim. Part of that is b/c that very thing happened to someone I know. That individual got fired for refusing to sleep w/the boss.

4. You might even later get evidence of racial discrimination if you applied & weren't this person's physical type.

5. No competent in-house counsel or any business owner working with a lawyer would EVER allow such ads to be posted on a public website like Craig's List. They would tell these business owners their ads were inappropriate before they ever got posted & remind them that Craig's List does fall under the jurisdiction of state & federal law. At the very least, they'd make damn sure the employer's personal prejudices were not displayed for anyone to just save the ad & use it as evidence in a future lawsuit.

Do these people think labor laws don't apply to Craig's List job postings? Why do you think that you don't see job ads on Monster, Career Builder or any newspaper saying "no blacks" or "Asian applicants only" or "no fat chicks?"

I don't know who in the world puts their picture on a resume or as part of a job application but I think it's a deplorable practice if your looks aren't relevant to the job. It just invites illegal discrimination so if you want to get a job based on your looks, I suggest you try modeling/acting or start working in the adult industry.

Overall, things are looking up. I found out through reliable third party resources that a job I've been trying to pursue for a while is indeed legit. After all the scams & BS I've been through, this is wonderful news. I'm used to people who have no way to hire and/or pay me being impressed w/my skills, work product, what have you but those who could usually rejecting me. In my book, it's because I'm not a moron or a mindless little sheep willing to do anything the employer says no matter how illegal, shady or ethically wrong something might be.

These days, I think my having my own business in a field most people would kill to work in is also a factor. Yes, I'm going to leave my own business where I'm treated with respect to go for YOU & get treated like crap. Hell's also going to freeze over & unicorns will fly out from the top of the Empire State Building. Get a clue!

When you're a lawyer, you can't do that or eventually you'll no longer be a lawyer.

So once things get rolling, it means some life changes I've been waiting on for ages. I'd like to finally earn a real income to start paying off loans + more experience in my field can't hurt.

For the record, I never submit pictures for a job unless it's for modeling or acting. You can meet me in person if you want to consider my looks for a job where they are irrelevant to my ability to perform it.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

So, today I get in touch w/the contact for a job I've been waiting to hear about. Apparently, now I'm going to be the in-house lawyer & need to get both an attorney escrow account + malpractice insurance ASAP. My task today was researching costs (because if you want me to do anything benefiting a business I don't own, you're going to have to pay for it).

Good news: Apparently getting an attorney escrow account (technically known as an IOLTA/IOLA account) can be done without spending a fortune or actively holding lots of funds in there. Those concerns have been paramount for me as I had a business checking account closed due to my not taking clients for a long time. I never had a trust account since I never took on real estate clients or people who needed funds held in escrow.

At least if I represent people in the future, I know I could get one easily enough.

Malpractice insurance quotes are more complicated but at least someone gave me a range to take back today. I remember writing on legal malpractice insurance before in this blog, but in case you don't know policies in the entertainment field are the priciest of any other field in the law.

A couple years ago when I researched getting coverage for myself, I'd have had to pay $2,500 a year. When you can't even afford reduced private loan payments of $500 a month, coverage isn't going to happen. It's also more beneficial for people who have assets & things to lose; I'm not one of those people (at least, not yet). You'll have to get in line behind the student loan companies if you want to collect a debt from me.

However, unless your state has a mandatory insurance rule, you can simply tell potential clients about this BEFORE you retain them. That's what I've done with a detailed explanation in English on what it means for them & people who wanted to work with me never seemed to care.

Furthermore, asking an attorney to be your in-house lawyer is a whole different ballgame in terms of salary. I also have significant experience at in-house work so a fair rate for that level of responsibility is in order.

Bad news: I heard about an internship I'd want to do & am not sure if I can do both. I'm drastically overqualified for it but the networking potential would be great & I'd not have to spend my own money to do it. Sorry, but not reimbursing for travel means I'm PAYING to work for you.

I'm not sure what the terms are but wanted to go to the interview to see why the interviewer chose to speak to me, drastically overqualified & all. Maybe things would be different but I'm not going to know until I find out.

I also don't know what flexibility I'd get w/this other job. I don't want to work the mega-firm hours or give up my personality; heck, I think my personality probably helped me get the job. No giving up other things or not spending quality time w/hubby, even if he fears getting laid off.

So, at the moment it's just insane but guess that's what you get when you live by the philosophy of not putting all your eggs in one basket.

Now, the inane nonsense:

This article just pisses me off. I will happily take a teddy bear or chocolate, don't expect my man to dress up unless we'll be at a formal event & don't consider Valentine's Day a day of celebration for any relationship I've had. I'm lucky not to suffer some kind of misfortune with my track record. See the post on my history with Valentine's Day.

Piper Weiss is apparently a judgmental harpy who wants to categorize ALL women that way. I have to wonder about her relationship status & how healthy it is if she has one. I can tell you MY relationship is quite healthy, thank you very much. A real one has no need for pretension or utter bullshit like this.

You already know my feelings on illegal immigration if you've read earlier entries. I really have no problems with states doing this. As one commenter put it "What part of the word "illegal" do you not understand?" When you don't bother learning a country's primary language & go around waving your native country's flag while protesting about your rights in this country, you get NO sympathy from me. The people hiring these folks get even less sympathy. I take displacing MY family and friends or harassing them very personally. Read earlier posts if you want details, as I've actually experienced that from these saintly illegals (I will not use the PC term so don't ask or expect it).

Oh, yes. It seems that if you want to get a deal on Yelp in NYC, you have to enter credit card information on an unsecured page. Are these people stupid? Can't they provide a telephone number or fix their page so we don't have to risk theft to buy a deal there? That's exactly what an unsecured page is; cyber criminals could see your financial info & take it.

I wanted to get one for a discount at a shooting range for me & my spouse but I didn't feel $60 was worth risking some criminal stealing my debit card account number & taking all my money. If you'd risk this, you're an idiot who deserves to be robbed.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Wow, I've made it to 15 of these. I still have even more rants in me so hang around for more of them.

Today's highlights: Learned the verdict of the desktop PC & it wasn't nearly as pricey as we thought it might be. Legs are a little sore from my first Intro to American Jiu Jitsu class (yes, taking more self defense training since I have been harassed before though thankfully not put in a dire enough situation to get serious psychological scarring).

A tip: don't start problems with people who have unresolved rage issues. I don't care if you weight 5 times as much. Believe it or not, I'm a surprisingly peaceful person & more of a reactionary than an aggressor. I react to situations; I don't start trouble.

So since more links are piling up, on with the musings.

A big thank you to Jesse Ventura for this. I read comments on a law school scam blog where the author thought it was ridiculous to sue over this kind of thing. Seems you can tell who's become a defeated person based on these responses. I also suggested to the blog author that if she indeed has what she claims are "fabulous ta-tas," she could parlay that into a job at a local strip club or even work as a web cam girl & make enough money to pay off her law school loans. For that matter, she could use such a job to find a political figure or some other high profile rich person to extort so the loans get paid off and/or she gets the finer things in life.

If she has no problem with the scanners, I see no reason why she shouldn't just do one of those jobs. You know these images will get misplaced & eventually get posted online. Look at how many shady things the government has done & the leaks.

Me, I'd rather my private parts STAY that way, especially from TSA officials. I don't care what label you want to put on it; it's still a violation of basic civil rights. So if Jesse Ventura is being forced to go through this as well & has had enough, who can blame him for suing??? Not me.

I have a comment about this story. New Yorkers, in my experience, are not the rudest people. Atlanta is much worse. "Southern hospitality" is not present if you're taking MARTA. I had this scumbag (in manner & appearance) stand in front of one of the turnstiles at my local station & claimed the other one was messed up, despite their being no sign on it.

I went into the second one. My thoughts were "Do you think I'm stupid, asshole?" One surefire way to make me hate your guts is to insult my intelligence. Didn't like another scumbag trying to harass me & my husband at Port Authority either. We walked off from this nosy man who thought we going to tell him where we were going.

One of the first rules of city living is NOT telling strangers where you're going. You can also get vibes from people & when I get bad vibes, I move away.

On more events in NYC, there's this planned change to the dress code of cab drivers. Nice to leave so much ambiguity, guys. Someone might define "professional appearance" as wearing a bikini. And let's not get into standards of neatness or cleanliness. I'm sure there'll be lawsuits sometime.

I'm happy to hear about this. Not that I own a gun but I do believe in the 2nd Amendment & that restricting all the guns only makes it easier for criminals to find victims. I see no harm in having ammo to protect yourself if someone tries to hurt you or your loved ones. Granted, if I had my way, spring gun traps would be legal but that's because I don't have sympathy for blatant criminals & think a little personal accountability never hurt anyone.

Oh, and this is total crap. I wanted to have a cat who'd sleep with me at night on the bed & never had one until I met my current kitty, who adamantly will not move. He lives inside, doesn't hang around other animals & is probably cleaner than me and my husband. I don't kiss the cat on the mouth or share food with him because that's just gross but he can lick my arm or my hand. What about the psychological and calming effects of pets??? These researchers must have ignored that.

Finally, you should apparently go to Twitter to rant about companies. See, going on the Internet can be helpful to weed out self-serving BS and get to the truth of bad situations. Can't reach a CEO? Just go to Twitter! Isn't technology grand?

I just wish our Belkin wireless router would have a decent Internet connection instead of claiming not to be able to load Google or Facebook. Their tech support has not been nearly so helpful and I think it's generally a good policy to avoid buying your computer products at Best Buy unless you know a particular brand VERY well & can get it at a good price. It's too late to return the thing & we only got to try it out once before the return period for Best Buy ended due to our PC's problems w/the Ethernet card.

Finding a good computer repair shop is the ultimate challenge but thankfully, I did find that in NYC.

About Me

I am an attorney who used to work with a small indie film production company. Like it or not, it seems I now have a place in the entertainment industry.
DISCLAIMER: The statements on this blog represent my personal views ONLY. It is not to be taken as any representation of the views of ANY other entity besides me, myself & I. I am not a spokesperson for ANYONE other than myself.
This blog is also NOT LEGAL ADVICE nor does any statement here form an attorney-client relationship or convey more than general information. If you want to be MY client, you'll have to sign a retainer agreement & pay me first.